Workers hired to meet roaring demand have been left twiddling their thumbs.

为满足猛增的需求而被雇佣的员工们，现在闲得抠手。

At the peak over a fifth of European workers remained technically employed even as they twiddled their thumbs.

在巅峰时期，超过五分之一的欧洲工人在无事可做的时候仍然保有雇佣工作。

That would be twiddling your thumbs.

那将是在玩弄你的拇指。

I say that I don't want to be twiddling my thumbs.

我说我不想玩弄我的拇指。

Now, he only twiddled his thumbs.

现在，他无事可干。

Our scriptwriter does not sit around here at ESL Podcast twiddling her thumbs.

我们的编剧不会坐在 ESL 播客上闲逛。

" To twiddle your thumbs" means to sit around and do nothing, in this case.

“To twiddle your thumbs”在这种情况下意味着坐在那里什么都不做。

I don't think people are going to be sort of sat there twiddling their thumbs.

我不认为人们会坐在那里摆弄他们的拇指。

I snubbed out my cigarette and leaned back in the pink chair and twiddled my thumbs.

我掐灭了香烟， 靠在粉红色的椅子上， 玩弄着拇指。

" I hope one day I can make her proud, " Zetta said, twiddling her own thumbs now.

“我希望有一天我能让她感到骄傲，”Zetta 说，现在她的拇指在不停地转动。

You mean I have to sit here twiddling my thumbs while I wait for the plane to take off?

你是说我在等飞机起飞的时候必须坐在这里玩弄我的拇指？

It is going take a lot of time and legwork, but I have no intention of sitting home and twiddling my thumbs while I wait for my next job!

这将花费大量时间和跑腿工作，但我无意在等待下一份工作时坐在家里摆弄我的拇指！

" Every artist in the world has spent 18 months twiddling their thumbs, so they are making records, " says Ed Macdonald, the manager of 100% Records, which represents artists such as We Are Scientists, an indie rock band.

“世界上所有艺术家都有了18个月无所事事的时间，所以他们都在制作唱片，”100%唱片公司的经理艾德·麦克唐纳说。该公司代理着一些艺术家，比如独立摇滚乐队We are Scientists。

I say I do not want to sit around and twiddle my thumbs; I want to go out and do something, and that's what I'm doing, trying to go to each company and deliver this letter of inquiry.

我说我不想坐在那里玩弄我的拇指；我想出去做点什么， 这就是我正在做的，试图去每家公司并递交这封询问信。

" Look here, " Mallinson shouted angrily, " are we bound to sit here twiddling our thumbs while this maniac does everything he damn well wants? What's to prevent us from smashing that panel and having it out with him" ?

“听着，” 马林森愤怒地喊道， “难道我们一定要坐在这里玩弄我们的拇指， 而这个疯子做他该死的一切他想做的事吗？有什么能阻止我们砸碎面板和他一起解决” ？